Hanging is a more "humane" form of execution than lethal injection IMO. Of course lethal injection looks more humane to spectators but is probably more slow and painful than a quick hanging.
From the reports on TV it sounds like he died pretty fast with only some twitching (likely involuntary) after the initial snap of the neck.
techs
Lifer
- Sep 26, 2000
- 28,559
- 4
- 0
Scaphism? I had to look that one up:
Wiki:
Scaphism, also known as the boats, is an ancient Persian method of execution designed to inflict torturous death. The name comes from the Greek word skaphe, meaning "scooped (or hollowed) out".
The naked victim would be firmly fastened within a back-to-back pair of narrow rowboats (or in some variations a hollowed out tree trunk), the head, hands, and feet protruding from this improvised container.
The victim was forced to ingest milk and honey to the point of developing severe diarrhea, and more honey would be rubbed on his body so as to attract insects to the exposed appendages. They would then be left to float on a stagnant pond (or alternately, simply exposed to the sun somewhere). The defenseless victim's feces accumulated within the container, attracting more insects, which would eat and breed within his or her exposed (and increasingly gangrenous) flesh. Death, when it eventually occurred, was probably due to a combination of dehydration, starvation and septic shock.
In other recorded versions, the insects did not eat the victim; biting and stinging insects such as wasps, which were attracted by honey on the body, acted as the torture.
Death by scaphism is painful, humiliating, and protracted. Historical records suggest that one Mithridates, sentenced to die in this manner for a perceived insult to the king, survived for 17 days before dying.
Gigantopithecus, how come you knew what that was???
Wiki:
Scaphism, also known as the boats, is an ancient Persian method of execution designed to inflict torturous death. The name comes from the Greek word skaphe, meaning "scooped (or hollowed) out".
The naked victim would be firmly fastened within a back-to-back pair of narrow rowboats (or in some variations a hollowed out tree trunk), the head, hands, and feet protruding from this improvised container.
The victim was forced to ingest milk and honey to the point of developing severe diarrhea, and more honey would be rubbed on his body so as to attract insects to the exposed appendages. They would then be left to float on a stagnant pond (or alternately, simply exposed to the sun somewhere). The defenseless victim's feces accumulated within the container, attracting more insects, which would eat and breed within his or her exposed (and increasingly gangrenous) flesh. Death, when it eventually occurred, was probably due to a combination of dehydration, starvation and septic shock.
In other recorded versions, the insects did not eat the victim; biting and stinging insects such as wasps, which were attracted by honey on the body, acted as the torture.
Death by scaphism is painful, humiliating, and protracted. Historical records suggest that one Mithridates, sentenced to die in this manner for a perceived insult to the king, survived for 17 days before dying.
Gigantopithecus, how come you knew what that was???
The Scots had a pretty good one:
The person was stuffed into a barrel that had spikes driven from the outside in (exposed points on the inside), then the barrel was rolled downhill.
The full "Drawn & Quartered" routine would hae worked OK too, being that Iraq is fairly flat ....
The person was stuffed into a barrel that had spikes driven from the outside in (exposed points on the inside), then the barrel was rolled downhill.
The full "Drawn & Quartered" routine would hae worked OK too, being that Iraq is fairly flat ....
Don Vito Corleone
Elite
- Feb 10, 2000
- 30,029
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I wouldn't have executed him, but in any event I see no benefit to giving him a particularly ghastly death.
moshquerade
No Lifer
- Nov 1, 2001
- 61,504
- 12
- 56
moshquerade
No Lifer
- Nov 1, 2001
- 61,504
- 12
- 56
i'm glad he's gone, one way or another would have been fine.
who are we to interfere with the Iraqi justice system? It is their doings. It is done.
shortylickens
No Lifer
- Jul 15, 2003
- 80,287
- 17,082
- 136
I wouldn't have killed him; doing so risks putting the Iraqi government on the same level as Saddam's regime. Rule by force, death to opposers and all that. Anyways thats my opinion.
Originally posted by: Robor
Unfortunately that doesn't seem to be the case anymore.Originally posted by: dahunan
America is loved the world over for her Freedom Of Speechsomething that definitely needs to be protected.
At least, not until the next Hitler comes along, eh? :roll:
Gassing would've been the most appropriate, I suppose. More of the Old Testament "eye for an eye" type of punishment.
However, I wouldn't have lost any sleep if they'd done to Saddam what was done to William Wallace (and others during that time in history)......stretched, hung, then disembowled.......beheaded......then quartered. Let 'em really know how much they're disliked!!!
At the end of shogun a japanese book/movie the emporer was buried in the sand up to his neck and passer-bys were invited to saw on his head with a bamboo smooth pole, spit on him, and whatever else, so his death was prolonged.
Thousands and thousands of people were rounded up by this mad man and tortured and gangraped because they simply talked about the government or voiced an opinion. A person I knew who was an Iraqi, told me this story that there was a young man that said something bad about Sadam, and then the police rounded up every teenage boy in the village and no one ever saw them again. This is how mean and brutal Sadam was. There is no kind of brutality this mad man would not do.
The Iraqi's probably picked the most painless and humane method to kill him.
I think it would have been better to haul his ass out into the town square and force the people to watch as his head was cut off with a sword. If you make death too painless and too clean, people forget that it is a human being that is dieing.
In the end, it is a message to dictators everywhere that they might be the next tyrant to go.
Thousands and thousands of people were rounded up by this mad man and tortured and gangraped because they simply talked about the government or voiced an opinion. A person I knew who was an Iraqi, told me this story that there was a young man that said something bad about Sadam, and then the police rounded up every teenage boy in the village and no one ever saw them again. This is how mean and brutal Sadam was. There is no kind of brutality this mad man would not do.
The Iraqi's probably picked the most painless and humane method to kill him.
I think it would have been better to haul his ass out into the town square and force the people to watch as his head was cut off with a sword. If you make death too painless and too clean, people forget that it is a human being that is dieing.
In the end, it is a message to dictators everywhere that they might be the next tyrant to go.
Don Vito Corleone
Elite
- Feb 10, 2000
- 30,029
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I don't propose interfering, but frankly anyone who watched any portion of that trial could see it was a kangaroo court, and I think most of the world (myself included) believes the Iraqi government is incompetent and corrupt. I find it hard to call this "justice," simply because the process was so badly flawed, and because the death of Saddam will instantly be seen as martyrdom to those who wish to adopt that view.
In what way was it a kangaroo court?
Given the opportunity to speak and present a defense, Saddam and his legal team blustered and threatened. When time came for the closing arguments, Saddam kept his legal team away, forcing the court to appoint someone to do their close ... Saddam threatened him as well, but he proceeded anyway.
Many / most / all of the non-Iraqi folks that helped to establish the trial system, at least for this series of trials, belong to the International Court. Of the interviews I've heard with some of these people, they say it was handled in the same fashion, with the same rules, as would have been done in The Hague.
So, what specifically are you referring to?
Given the opportunity to speak and present a defense, Saddam and his legal team blustered and threatened. When time came for the closing arguments, Saddam kept his legal team away, forcing the court to appoint someone to do their close ... Saddam threatened him as well, but he proceeded anyway.
Many / most / all of the non-Iraqi folks that helped to establish the trial system, at least for this series of trials, belong to the International Court. Of the interviews I've heard with some of these people, they say it was handled in the same fashion, with the same rules, as would have been done in The Hague.
So, what specifically are you referring to?
Don Vito Corleone
Elite
- Feb 10, 2000
- 30,029
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As a starting point, it seems self-evident to me that the current Iraqi administration is more or less totally corrupt, and largely consists of a pack of self-interested parties handpicked by the US. I am, and I'm being charitable in saying this, wary of the ability of the Iraqi government to competently try anyone, much less Saddam Hussein. As luck would have it a close friend of mine spent 4 months in Baghdad last year in a JAG billet conducting preliminary case handling on criminal prosecutions of insurgents, before they were handed over to the Iraqis for trial - her view of their judicial system was not favorable (though obviously Saddam's trial is a separate but related matter).
In this case, the most critical part of building the charges against Saddam was the investigative process, in which the defense was not permitted to participate. The investigating judges were selected by the United States. During the trial itself, key evidence was never disclosed to the defense, and the defense was not permitted to cross-examine prosecution witnesses. Obviously it didn't help that Saddam's defense attorneys kept being killed (this is one more reason it would, IMO, clearly have made more sense to try the case on neutral ground rather than in the midst of a civil war in Saddam's own country), or that he was caged during the entire trial.
The appeals process seems even more obviously flawed - his appellate defense team had only two weeks after receiving the trial transcript to prepare an appellate brief, and the appeals court took less than three weeks to confirm the conviction and sentence.
I am not by any means saying Saddam is not guilty of crimes against humanity, but his trial was deeply, obviously flawed.
If you're interested, Human Rights Watch has published a report on the trial that is pretty damning (a curious situation for that group in that Saddam was obviously a grave offender against human rights himself).
Put on paper view to help fund the war cost. Honestly, so much wasted potential. Afterwards we could have cooked the body and given it out as rations to the starving Iraqi populace. I'm all for economic conservatism, don't spend a dime more than we have to.
Another good point, but there is no reason not to do it by the books and at least set an example for what a justice system should be.
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